Valkyrie Chronicles 4 & 5 Bundle

by Erik Schubach

  I looked at Kate, who winced at me, and I said, “I'm sorry I was late. But at least the threat has passed.”

  She looked at me with pursed lips. I squinted eyes I no longer possessed. “What is it? The danger is past now isn't it?”

  She shook her head and her raspy voice was hoarse as she said through her tears, “No my love. Ymir has called down the dreadnaught to collide with Valhalla to strike at us from beyond the grave.”

  I snapped out, “Then we must transit to the realm of Asgard!”

  She shook her head again. “The capacitors are not fully charged yet and there are just minutes before the strike.”

  Chapter 16 – The Three Embers

  I sighed in resignation. We had nothing that could scratch their armor... except Kat and me. Arina was fastening a cloth across my eyes as we stood at the Einherjer line. I understood their wincing now, I thought it was my skin. Kat had finally laid a hand on my arm she refused to move. When she realized my skin was healing more quickly where she touched, she started laying her hands on the worst damage. Inatra and Arina joined in. They were trying to get me to the healers, but I refused until the citadel was safe.

  I borrowed Mist's earbud as she was stripping from her armor and calling back for more. She knew I needed my honor. I started painfully gearing up, the armor on my bubbled flesh causing me to wince. Everyone looked odd to me with my simulated vision. Then it hit me, without my true eyes I could see no auras. It was odd, for eons it was all I knew, it was just part of how I perceived the world. I found myself missing it especially when I looked at my mate. If we survived the incoming threat, I couldn't wait until my Verr could rebuild my eyes.

  I opened a coms channel, my voice still sounded like something that had just crawled out of the pits of the underworld. Kroth! I winced at it. “Father, how can we stop the incoming ship?”

  There was a long pause, then Odin spoke with a shaky voice, a tone I had never heard from him, it was usually booming with confidence. “Kara? It is true then. You have returned to us. By the Tree of Ages!” He composed himself. “I have been transmitting a gravity pulse to try to deflect it downward, using the experimental systems Arina conceived after the Stand of Heildfine to try to deflect future asteroid attacks by the Ragnarok. But that krothing vessel has the mass of the tiny moon and it is still firing it's damaged engines to compensate. I have only slowed its approach.

  We only needed to deflect it? If it were coming in powered instead of hurtling through the atmosphere pulled by gravity, the impact would be less than a kinetic strike from space. I looked around, all we had were sidearms that would be ineffective against that much Jotunn armor. I looked at the one Earth battle suit with the Wildcards insignia. Its guns would be less than useless. Again, it came down to Kat and I, but our Power of Thor couldn't hope to deflect that ship.

  Still it was the only thing we had. There was a commotion behind us and the gathered crowd was splitting as something approached. Once the warriors opened a hole, my heart soared as Samantha, Esa and Brunie came running at me with tears of joy running down their faces. Most of my disfigurement was covered with the armor now, only my hands and face were visible. But my babies didn't even hesitate to throw themselves at me. We hugged for what seemed like an eternity. They were all chastising me through our link, telling me to never do something like that again.

  I chuckled and said aloud, “That I cannot promise. I am Valkyrie.” The three snorted then in their eerie synchronization all said, “Truly.”

  Kat and Arina were chastising the girls. Telling them they shouldn't be on the line, and that the danger wasn't past yet.

  I was back on coms, wishing I could cry tears of joy right now, my heart swelled with love for my family. “Father, would the power of Thor, combined with the gravity pulse be enough to deflect it?”

  He replied quickly, “No, it does not have the power we would need.”

  I looked up at the Dome Shield, remembering when it lent Arina the power to do a massive EMP. We could see the ship now far up in the sky to the east, barreling down toward our location, it looked to have made a semi controlled re-entry as it wasn't a flaming ball of death.

  Mother wasn't here, but Kate was, if this failed, I would be sacrificing any chance she had at surviving too. But there was no other way. I took a deep breath and sighed then whispered in case the universe was listening, “Kat, your old friend.” She looked up to the Dome Shield and nodded. Without hesitation, my mate and I strode through the shield. She placed one hand on the portal archway and grasped my right hand in her left lacing our fingers.

  I just nodded and cupped my other hand. The power channeling from the shield through us was incredible, our Verr were able to interact directly with the artificial intelligence of the shield to keep us from burning up in the effort. The energy spanned the miles to the incoming ship and hit it with the fury of the Valkyrie. Father was on coms with a dull tone in his voice, “It is not enough daughters.”

  But suddenly the power coursing through us seemed to double. I glanced over and Inatra and Arina were on their knees beside us with their hands on us, straining with the effort of feeding us their power. Odin was saying, “It has slowed, but still not enough.” Then his voice lost all of its animation as he whispered, “I love you daughters.” I hung my head, we had failed, but we kept firing.

  My head jerked up when a sweet voice beside me was asking Arina a question, our daughters and Brunhilde were outside the shield, what were they doing? Their only chance was inside the shield. Esa asked, “The ship is empty? No living souls?”

  Arina nodded and said frantically, “Get back inside the shields girls!”

  They ignored the plea and Brunie looked at the girls, “Good, then no violence would be committed.”

  Samantha stepped to my side and placed a hand on my arm and slowly lowered it. We stopped firing. I hissed, “Get back behind the shields!”

  She shook her head and looked around at us four Valkyrie, “Mothers, it is time we shared our birthright as the daughters of the Valkyrie. We possess the second generation of nanite evolution. Please, lend us your power.”

  Then I witnessed something that shocks me still to this day as our brave children stood in front of us and Samantha said in a voice that mirrored mine in battle, “Shall we show the krothing Frost Giant's the power of the Three Embers?” Together they each raised an arm and lightning ten times as powerful as my power of Thor lanced out from the children. They joined their hands together and it formed an almost solid beam of coherent energy, crackling with lightening. It struck the ship that was only about a hundred miles away now, the ship shuddered and that quarter mile thick armor started peeling away.

  Odin was on coms, “Whatever you are doing is working, can you increase power?”

  This shook us out of our shock and us Valkyrie grasped our daughters, screaming with the effort of feeding them all of our power. Kat reached back to touch the archway again to borrow power from the Dome Shield. The Three Embers issued a challenge to the heavens as they let loose MY war cry and the shield flared once and extinguished as a giant wave of energy pulsed from our daughters and the incoming ship cleaved in half and was thrown to the ground twenty miles from Valhalla as the Dome Shield flickered back to life.

  The ground shook violently as time slowed down as the pieces of the destroyed vessel tumbled and crashed along the surface of Folkvangr, each impact had the power of a nuclear strike. I was physically lifting the Three Embers and throwing them through the shields at the gates. Kat was moving impossibly fast too dragging Inatra and Arina through as well. I dove as the first shock wave reached Valhalla, I was flung through the shield with ferocious violence. The Einherjer caught me as my body flew through the secondary shield.

  The others ran through the secondary shield with Kate yelling, “Everybody down!” As we hit the ground, my mind went back to the very first time I saw my spectacular mate. She had used those exact same words back then too. I know it was inappropriate
at the time, but it just made me smile.

  As the ground shook violently and chaotic sounds filled the air with deafening intensity I heard in my head the sweet raspy voice of Kate, “You are so bad Kara.”

  I chuckled as we saw debris striking the dome, and being vaporized and converted into energy, I could feel Valhalla shaking for another reason as the power shunts dumped excess energy out the back of the mountain.

  The primary gate shield failed, then the secondary as superheated air blasted into the courtyard momentarily. Blowing the Einherjer off their line, and raining debris on everyone laying in the courtyard. Then it was over. Silence filled Valhalla. The secondary shield flickered a couple times then came back up... the primary stayed down. All we could see outside was smoke, haze, and fire.

  Suddenly every Ragnarok present roared then we all joined in, adding our battle cries. We had survived. We stood but then I swayed on my feet it had been a very long day, and I was beyond exhausted. I felt many hands catch me as I lost consciousness. My last words were, “Oh Kroth! Not the healers again!”

  Chapter 17 – Aftermath

  My worst fears were realized. It was almost three krothing weeks they had me confined to the infirmary. I was going insane. The good news was that my skin looked like skin again and I had some milky orbs in my eye sockets as my nanites slowly rebuilt my eyes. I missed the auras, I couldn't wait for my normal sight to be restored.

  It was a long and painful process to remove the armor alloy from my body. It involved tearing it from my bones and flesh a bit at a time and reintroducing biologicals so my nanites could grow the proper tissues. That was the main reason for my confinement.

  The very worst thing about it was the krothing mead they have in the medical building was terrible. I needed a decent krothing drink!

  My hand snapped behind me and I caught the fruit that Tyr threw at my back as he entered my room with his mates, Mist and Jeffery. For some reason, he got a kick out of the sensory information the Verr were feeding me, like three hundred and sixty degree vision. I sighed, “Are you ever going to stop acting like an overgrown adolescent?”

  He furrowed his brow as I turned around to face them, like he was deep in thought as I bit into the peach projectile. Then he brightened when he had come to a conclusion, he held up one finger and said, “No.” We all laughed at this.

  Mist said, “Well met sister.”

  Jeffery comically added his customary greeting, “Well met Valkyrie.”

  I just shook my head at them all. “Well met you surly lot.”

  Then Mist held up a holo-pad then scrunched her face up and just ran her fingers through the data on it then flicked toward me and leaned in a little in a questioning manner. I snorted at her and said, “Yes, the Verr caught it. They are displaying the information for me now.”

  I looked at the numbers Odin finally allowed them to show me. For such a short battle, it was the most brutal battle in Asgard history. We lost six thousand thirty one Ragnarok, four hundred and eighty three wounded. Two hundred and nineteen humans, with seven wounded. Five Vanger dead and three wounded. I choked up a little, six Asgard dead two wounded. These hurt the most I think. It was my duty as a Valkyrie to take the violence to the enemy so that the innocents would not have to know the pain of committing that violence. I feel like I had failed the brave Asgard that stepped into battle in my stead.

  Then I took a deep breath and read the numbers that left a hole in my heart. Thirty seven Einherjergeir dead, twenty one wounded. One... I choked up... one Valkyrie dead... Skold. She had honor to spare and would be greatly missed. I would be sure to commission songs of her valor myself. Six Valkyrie wounded. And... I snorted again and shook my head at father's antics... one infuriatingly impulsive Wild One wounded. But not a single innocent was lost.

  After the dust settled, it was determined that the halves of the ship tumbled past Valhalla five miles away on either side. Multiple systems were damaged but were easier to repair than me. The hover train tunnels between the citadels had collapsed but should reopen within days.

  Intark had been located and was grumpy that he had been left behind. Arina was inconsolable about the loss of Pegasus. The rest of the Sky mourned her passing. But something in the back of my mind was screaming at me about that. The Verr were trying to tell me something. But songs of her valor had even reached me in my forced isolation.

  The girls tell me that Arina has started construction on the most modern and sleek vessel the Asgard have ever known... in hopes that she can reproduce the miracle of the Sky again.

  I sighed and took a deep breath then I looked at my second and her two mates, “So, is everything set?”

  She nodded. We had our little conspiracy to smuggle me out of medical without Father springing one of his surprises on me. “Yes, Kat and the Three Embers have Winger at the back entrance to spirit you away.” She handed me a bag. I rolled my milky orbs at her. This smacked of mother's doing. I pulled out some spectacular ruling caste garments. I grinned and walked past them into the bathroom and got dressed.

  There was a thin scrap of fabric at the bottom of the bag. It was a scarf. The quality was unmatched, I knew it came from Hajart, his work was amazing. It was small compared to his usual scarves.

  I walked out of the room tying the scarf to my left arm and Mist started giggling like a child. She was shaking her head. “No you silly Ragnarok convert.” She untied the scarf. “Turn around sister.” I complied and then she placed the scarf over my eyes and tied it in the back.

  She spun me around and looked at me and smiled. “There. We know how self conscious you are about people seeing your eyes while they are constructed. Hajart heard this and made this special for you. It bears the crest of your family and is simply gorgeous.”

  I stepped into the restroom again and looked into the mirror with my artificial vision. I smiled, she was right it looked beautiful. I smirked at my odd appearance with the blindfold. I looked like a gypsy fortuneteller from old Earth.

  I stepped back out and grabbed the things beside my bed. I looked at the backpack sitting with my things. It looked familiar. “What is this?”

  Mist shrugged. “It was with the jumpsuit you returned to us with.”

  I unsealed the flap and looked in. Memories came rushing back in and a huge smile grew on my face. I sealed it and slung it over my shoulder then addressed my co-conspirators. “Ready to spring me? I need a krothing drink!”

  They grinned and we snuck out into the hall with them surrounding me as we made for the back halls. We reached the back entrance without incident and I grinned at my friends as I went out the door, I could always depend on them to have my back and... My thought was cut short by the thunderous cheers. An ocean of people of all races were chanting “Wild One.” And “Frost Giant's Bane.” I was betrayed!

  I looked back at my traitorous friends. Mist stuck her tongue out at me. Tyr and Jeffery held their hands up in defense as Tyr chuckled. “Odin was threatening banishment if we denied him his pleasure.”

  I started a list that very moment, and these three were on it. I started walking down the warrior lined corridor toward Winger. The honor guard caused me to do a double take. Instead of Einherjer, it was alternating races. An Einherjer, a Vanger, then Human, and Ragnarok, then repeating.

  The Valkyrie and Valkfela blocked my path as I approached the wind rider with Mother and Aunt Freya at their center. As one, they and the honor guard all slammed their fists on their chests in the salute to heroes and a loud “Raugh!” echoed out.

  The Valkyrie made a hole then my breath caught as the Valkyriefrior, Valkyrie of Peace, now blocked my path. Where they numbered but one, Arina, they now numbered four in their gleaming blue armor. These Valkyrie that would do no violence.

  I started crying, now that I could again with my rebuilt tear ducts. I loved these women, these Three Embers more than life itself. I would truly die for them... again.

  They gave the salute to heroes which I returned, then the
y made a hole. My beautiful Kate was waiting in the wind rider with a smug looking Odin. I shook my head with a smile and got in. Inatra, Arina, and the girls followed.

  Father stood and gave me a Vanger and human style hug and whispered. “Well met daughter. I love you so much Kara. So does all of Valhalla. I wasn't going to let you to not allow them to share this with you. I am so very proud of you.”

  I whispered back with a wry grin as he released me, “Well met father. Have no fear old man, I will make you pay.”

  He laughed boisterously as he exited the craft. “Of that... I have no doubt. The women of my family will be the death of me.”

  We all laughed as the door closed and Winger took to the air. I patted the seat I sat in and said to Winger, “Citadel Park please Wing-y. I am in serious need of a good stout mead. The tasteless drink they have in medical was atrocious.”

  This got some chuckles, then I turned to Arina and said, “When will Pegasus' new body be ready.”

  She looked pained. I was being cruel but to a good end. She said quietly, “The new wind rider will be done in a few days. But I do not know if I can ever replicate the Sky's sentience again.”

  I scrunched my face up and threw her my backpack. “Why in Odin's name would you do that when you could just give that body to Pegasus?”

  She tilted her head at me in confusion, the pain was gone. I could tell she didn't understand my attitude... yet. I hid a smile. She unsealed the flap on the backpack and looked inside. I swear on the Tree of Ages that her breathing stopped. I could feel happiness flowing into her as she asked, “Is this...?”

  I nodded and said, “I thought you might want her computer core. After our crash landing, my Verr were more coherent and kept their wits about them better than me. They had me save her computer core and writ of Valor before she dissolved. I only just remembered.”